Book Talk: No Drama Discipline

The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, PH.D

Daniel and Tina are known to be "parenting experts" and are well known for their book, The Whole-Brain Child (book talk on that one coming later). I love their approach to parenting, especially when it comes to discipline. They take back the word discipline, removing any negativity surrounding it and give it a positive meaning, it's true meaning - to teach. I'm all for this. When I am disciplining my child, I want her to understand why and to come to a solution for the now and for the later.

This no drama whole-brain approach is not a quick fix formula. It's no shortcut to parenting and it's not a perfect method. It's a whole-brain (read the book to understand this term) approach, customized to you as a parent, your child, what specifically you want to teach, based on the current situation. Basically, you have to switch your discipline approach constantly. It's not fixed. But it gives you a foundation to start from. You want to connect then redirect the behavior.

For me, I didn't like the way I was disciplined growing up. I didn't understand why I was being disciplined half of the time. Some of the time it wasn't even my fault. My parents were just having a bad day. It gave me a negative outlook toward my parents which hindered our relationship. And why would anyone want to cause physical harm to a child in order to make them conform to behave!? They actually talk a lot more about all of this in the book.

So I picked up this book, and if you're anything like me, and want to change the way discipline is looked at, this book is for you.

It'll take practice, but with consistency, you can change the meaning of discipline. They give you many tips, tricks, and stories to guide you along the way. And keep in mind it's not perfect, it won't make you perfect, and you will occasionally flip your lid, but with this approach, you know that you are nurturing your child, making her think, and developing a long-lasting, positive relationship with your child, leaving less room for meltdowns.